Industrial Age
Iron, steel, plate glass. The Crystal Palace, the Eiffel Tower, the early skyscrapers. Architecture catches up with the industrial revolution.
Part of Architectural Wonders
5 moments in this segment.
- — St. Paul's Cathedral. Wren's replacement for the medieval church destroyed in the Great Fire. The dome with the Whispering Gallery. Survived the Blitz when most of the surrounding City of London did not.
- — The Crystal Palace. Joseph Paxton's glass-and-iron pavilion for the Great Exhibition. Built in nine months out of prefab parts. The first building in history to use modular industrial-scale glass and iron. Moved to Sydenham; burned down 1936.
- — Sagrada Família. Gaudí took over the project in 1883; spent his last 43 years on it. He was hit by a tram in 1926 with construction perhaps 25% complete. Targeted completion: 2026, the centenary of his death.
- — Home Insurance Building (Chicago). William Le Baron Jenney. 10 storeys, the first building supported by a steel frame rather than load-bearing walls. The world's first skyscraper. Demolished in 1931.
- — The Eiffel Tower. Built as the entrance arch to the 1889 Paris World's Fair. 300m — the tallest structure in the world for 41 years. Parisians hated it on completion. Was planned for demolition in 1909; saved because it was useful for radio.
